Masteries

Offense:
21

Defense:
9

Utility:
0

Introduction

Hey y'all his is what I call my Teemo AP Speed Demon build. It's really the only build I ever use anymore when I play Teemo.

The build is generally for Top Lane but I've also used it successfully at Mid Lane many times.

Why I Created AP Speed Demon
The focus of the AP Speed Demon build is simple but considerably different from the way most people choose to build Teemo.

Most builds that I see generally seem to focus on lots of AP, a good amount Attack Speed, and some Magic Penetration. And that's fine and dandy, but issue with putting straight AP ahead of anything else bugged me. I consistently found that I had a serious need for both more Attack Speed and also a lot more Movement Speed.

But what would be an effective alternative? And so I started experimenting and eventually came up with AP Speed Demon.

The Big Three
There are basically three main focus areas or emphasis points with the AP Speed Demon build:

MOVEMENT SPEED
The need for more Movement Speed is based solely on the Teemo mechanics. Think about how you effectively use a Teemo. What does his play-style boil down to? The answer: poke and back, chase for kills and surprise attacks. Amongst other things, those are the tactics you will be using most of the game as Teemo, and the common denominator for those patterns of play is lots and lots of Movement Speed. So how do we get lots and lots of Movement Speed? We start by rushing Boots Of Swiftness as one of our first-back items. Later on we get the Alacrity Enchantment on top of that. Another component to boosting movement speed is equipping our Teemo with a hefty number of Movement Speed runes. Check out the Runes section for specifics. Lastly, I always choose Ghost as one of my Summoner's Spells for Teemo. By combining our Boots Of Swiftness, Rune selections and Ghost spell with Teemo's innate (W)Move Quick ability, we can now run down almost any enemy champ that is attempting retreat from our deadly poison! Alternatively, we can now out run those same champs with ease in case we need to retreat ourselves. Also, our ability to poke and back off is quick as lighting. (If you hear people complaining about how annoying Teemo is now, wait until they get a load of AP Speed Demon!!) And finally, these speed boosts offer the opportunity for your Teemo to move around the Rift so quickly that intervening in team-fights, ganking or just generally popping up on a rouge enemy champ are now a very viable part of your tactical repertoire.

ATTACK SPEED
The AP Speed Demon Teemo will have significantly more Attack Speed than your regular old Teemo build might have. This is achieved with the addition of Runaan's Hurricane, which you should hopefully have by around Mid-Game and BEFORE you purchase Rabadon's Deathcap. Not only does Runaan's Hurricane give us a whopping 70% increase in Attack Speed, but it also makes our basic attack shoot 2 extra darts at nearby enemies. With a champion like Teemo who depends on his poison abilities for dealing damage, these 2 extra darts mean a lot during a team-fight. While you're busy targeting down the enemy ADC, 2 other poisonous darts are dealing consistent damage to other members of that team. It's almost like having Singed's toxic gas in that you're spraying the enemy team with poison and dealing lots of crowd damage. Another subtle reason that Runaan's is a 'killer item' is that I've discovered the extra shots can actually hit and kill multiple retreating enemies. Example - the enemy Vayne is running for her life with little health left and her Leona support is a little ways behind her. Seeing little Teemo closing in at lighting speed on poor Vayne, Leona decides to be a buffer and get in Teemo's way. With Runaan's Hurricane in hand, Teemo says "okay Leona, I'll show you what happens when you try and be a hero." Shooting Leona a second dart flies past her and POP! You have slain an enemy! Vayne got hit by that second shot. It would not have been possible without Leona being behind Vayne and in range. Again, that is one of those subtle/overlooked benefits that I personally feel makes a serious difference in-game. Last few quick points about Attack Speed on this build, we will be getting the usual Nashor's Tooth as our first major item, and there are a good number of Attack Speed Runes as well.

All said and done, this high level of Attack Speed also gives our Teemo the unexpected tactical chance to 'stand-ground' against some enemies. In other words, depending on what opposing champ it is, when that champ decides to go in for the kill on Teemo I've found that you can often stand your ground (as opposed to backing-off or retreating) and repeatedly basic attack an enemy to death. Teemo's (Q)Blinding Dart ability can almost make this too easy. It's also really funny when your opponent comes in all 'high and mighty' ready to 'take you down' and then they realize what a dumb idea it was. What will happen is they realize this fact too late and instead of committing to the fight, they try and back. Bad idea. Remember... Our AP Speed Demon Teemo is ridiculously fast. No champion can run!

ABILITY POWER
If you review this build's item purchasing order, you'll see that I focus on building Movement Speed and Attack Speed before I build any serious AP items like Rabadon's Deathcap or Deathfire Grasp. There's a rationale behind that. A normal team of opponents DO NOT usually focus on building many defensive items until sometime during Mid-Game. This doesn't apply to all champs and certainly not to Tanks. You will also come by some pragmatic players who will shift their build early on against you. I say just watch to that and respond according to the situation. But in general, you aren't going to need to worry about the enemy team having loads of Magic Resist until well into Mid-Game. So, that's why I hold off on AP heavy items for the first half of the build in favour of getting my Attack Speed and Movement Speed items first. After all, WE DO get a solid chunk of AP from our Nashor's Tooth (60AP) as well as a good bit from Haunting Guise (25AP). Haunting Guise is also going to offer us +15 Magic Penetration, and it's because this build ignores Sorcerer's Shoes (+15MP) (in favour of Boots Of Swiftness), that we build Haunting Guise as our third item and then forget about upgrading to Liandry's Torment until we have fully filled out the rest of our build.

So, my goal with this build was to create a Teemo with loads of Attack Speed, Movement Speed and Ability Power. And that's what I've done.

My AP Speed Demon build shifts the focus more towards Attack Speed and Movement Speed with a late-game emphasis on building up Ability Power.

How This Build Is Different
A few of the major differences with AP Speed Demon and common Teemo builds are:
[*] Boots Of Swiftness w/Alacrity instead of Sorcerer's Shoes offers a ton of Movement Speed both during Laning Phase and then throughout the entire match once you get the Alacrity Enchantment. And in-case you were thinking "What about my Magic Penetration?!!", building a Haunting Guise early-on makes up for the loss of MR that Sorcerer's Shoes would have provided.
[*] Building Runaan's Hurricane is not something I usually see on a Teemo build, but I've found it to be one of my favorite items for Teemo! It offers tons of Attack Speed as well as the priceless ability to poison multiple enemies at once. This makes my little AP Speed Demon pretty devastating during team-fights and a master at clearing minion waves.
[*] Not focusing on defensive items unless absolutely necessary. With this build your REAL defense ends up being a massive amount of Movement Speed. AP Speed Demon Teemo doesn't need MR or Armour if his enemies can't even catch up! Of course this also means getting caught with CC will often guarantee a quick death, but that's an aspect of the build where player skill and judgment matters. Alternatively, there are always going to be situations where you really have no choice and simply need to build MR/Armour or even both. That's why I have multiple options for your sixth item. So, use good judgment and always be pragmatic depending on the enemy team comp/build. As a side-note, I'm a believer that Guardian Angel is a MUST HAVE item for when you find yourself in a super long game where everyone has reached full build. So if you do end up in very-late-game, go ahead and sell your sixth item in favour of Guardian Angel.

Lastly, I'm not going to be filling this whole guide out right at the moment. I think I've offered enough of an explanation for the AP Speed Demon build in this Introduction section. My plan is to expand the guide incrementally so that I have the energy and focus to give each section a solid amount of content for you guys.